Only Heart
by Manda6
Summary: Fic inspired by John Mayer's 'Only Heart.' A Warrick-Sara fic. Reviews are always appreciated and truly cherished.


Title: Only Heart  
  
Part 1/undecided  
  
Author: Amanda (onesmartblonde01y..., Manda6)  
  
Category: CSI (mostly Romance/Angst)  
  
Pairing: Warrick-Sara  
  
Archive: At Warrick-Sara, on Fanfiction.net, anywhere else, please  
  
ask.  
  
Disclaimer: Not only do I not own CSI, CBS, or its affiliates, I'm  
  
not making any money off of this story. Come to think of it, I'm  
  
unemployed, so I'm not making ANY money...Just, don't sue.  
  
Summary: ""I trust you, you know that. And I know that you don't lie  
  
to me, but how do I know you won't?"  
  
This is my first Warrick-Sara fanfic. Feedback would be greatly  
  
appreciated. Thank you.  
  
Normally, on a day like today, the ride back from the crime scene  
  
would have been Warrick's favorite part. Because, normally, when he  
  
and Sara worked together, the ride back to the lab was peaceful and  
  
intimate. Or, at least as intimate as you could be after processing a  
  
crime scene. Not that anything had ever happened; they were both too  
  
professional to let that happen. It was just nice to have a few  
  
minutes together at work without constantly thinking they were being  
  
watched and scrutinized.  
  
They had never come out and announced their relationship at work, but  
  
after awhile, people had begun to assume things, and neither Sara nor  
  
Warrick had denied them.  
  
That was more than five months ago, and if asked today, Warrick still  
  
wouldn't deny anything. Unfortunately, today, he wasn't so sure that  
  
Sara would do the same.  
  
She had been fine before work that night, curled up on the couch with  
  
him, in her pajamas, eating leftovers. Even though the pajamas were  
  
his, and they now had a small coffee stain on the left sleeve, he  
  
didn't care. They'd watched Trading Spaces, the only show on in the  
  
afternoon that they could agree on, but would never admit to liking,  
  
even if they both knew all the designers and carpenters by name and  
  
frequently referred to the show in private conversations.  
  
She had also been fine while they were getting ready for work. She'd  
  
happily shared her shower, claiming that the landlord had complained  
  
about the water bill last month. Warrick knew the landlord, a sweet  
  
old lady who loved Sara's quiet nature, would never complain about  
  
the water bill. He also knew better than to argue with Sara.  
  
When they'd arrived at work, slightly on the late side, they'd  
  
laughed and chatted with Nick and Catherine while they waited for  
  
that night's assignments. Warrick, though no one really noticed, had  
  
been quieter than usual; instead, he'd watched Sara. He watched her  
  
interact and laugh at a random joke, and it was then that it occurred  
  
to him. He couldn't remember a time in the last three years of  
  
knowing Sara, that'd he seen her laugh or smile so much. And it  
  
wasn't just tonight, he realized, it had been going on for a while.  
  
The thought had made him smile slightly to himself, when Grissom  
  
walked in.  
  
Warrick and Sara had been assigned to a case in a neighborhood not  
  
too far from the lab. When they'd arrived, Brass had hurriedly filled  
  
them in on the details, and then left to cover another case. He'd had  
  
time to tell them, however, that the victim in the house was a 28-  
  
year-old woman, found strangled to death in her kitchen, by a  
  
neighbor.  
  
Before they had even entered the kitchen, a man, asking to talk to  
  
someone in charge, had approached them. The man, it turned out, was  
  
Mason Ayres, husband to the victim, Nicole. It also turned out that  
  
not only was Mr. Ayres the husband, he was the killer. He hadn't  
  
waited to be questioned, he'd admitted it freely, going as far as to  
  
explain how and when he'd killed his wife: he'd surprised her from  
  
behind, soon strangling her to death, earlier that morning.  
  
While Warrick had gone to collect evidence and photograph the scene,  
  
just to verify the man's story, Sara had stayed behind to question  
  
Mr. Ayres. She learned that he had been cheating on his wife. Nicole  
  
Ayres had learned about the affair, but instead of doing anything  
  
about it, she'd let things stay the same, never admitting that she  
  
knew, until her husband confessed to cheating on her, telling her his  
  
girlfriend was pregnant, and that he wanted a divorce. She'd complied  
  
with the divorce, and had signed the papers, but never got the chance  
  
to legally end her marriage; she'd been killed first.  
  
When Sara asked what had caused him to kill his soon-to-be-ex-wife,  
  
Mr. Ayres admitted that he'd killed Nicole because his girlfriend was  
  
uncomfortable whenever her name was mentioned in the present tense.  
  
Apparently the past tense didn't bother her. Neither did the fact  
  
that she'd have to raise their soon-to-be-born child on her own, now  
  
that her husband was facing a long-term sentence.  
  
When Warrick had finished processing the scene, and Mr. Ayres was on  
  
his way to the LVPD, he and Sara returned to the Tahoe, packed up  
  
their things, and settled in for the short ride back to the lab, with  
  
Warrick driving.  
  
At a particularly long light, Warrick realized that not only had Sara  
  
not said a single thing since they'd been on the road, but that she  
  
was staring out the window, seemingly interested in the roadside  
  
wedding chapel.  
  
"Sara? Something I should know?" Warrick couldn't help but grin at  
  
his joke, but when he saw the look on Sara's face as she turned from  
  
the window, his grin quickly subsided.  
  
"I'm just tired. That was like a bad episode of Jerry Springer," she  
  
sighed, and turned back to the window.  
  
Glancing at the green light, he put the car in motion again, but  
  
couldn't help but keep looking at Sara. She'd never admitted aloud to  
  
him that she was tired. He turned his attention back to the road, but  
  
the part of his mind not focused on driving, was focused on Sara.  
  
When they'd pulled into the parking lot of the lab, and Warrick had  
  
shut off the engine, he took a chance and looked at Sara. She was  
  
still staring out the window, but this time, her attention was on a  
  
light blue Toyota parked next to them. Warrick knew though, that if  
  
he asked Sara a specific question about that car, she wouldn't have  
  
been able to answer it; a true testament to just how distracted she  
  
was.  
  
He left the keys in the ignition and reached out to touch her  
  
shoulder lightly.  
  
"Sara? It's just me... what's going on?" He couldn't tell if he sounded  
  
alarmed or not, or even if he should've sounded alarmed, but he was  
  
close enough to it, he figured.  
  
When she finally looked at him, he relaxed a little, because, even  
  
though she looked stressed, she didn't look sick like he'd originally  
  
thought she might be. "That man talked about cheating on his wife as  
  
if it were the easiest thing in the world. I guess to some people, it  
  
is." Her voice trailed off, but Warrick filled in the blanks. The  
  
case had her thinking about Hank, who Warrick could only describe as  
  
a moronic bastard.  
  
His hand had long since moved down her shoulder and arm and had  
  
grasped her hand, their fingers entwining naturally. Now, he could  
  
only stare and squeeze her hand tightly, silently praying that she  
  
wouldn't say what he knew she was thinking.  
  
But Sara had never been one to keep her thoughts to herself, so he  
  
was prepared.  
  
"It just makes me so insecure. And I hate admitting that. Makes me  
  
feel like everyone is just waiting to screw me over, cheat on me, and  
  
then leave." She finished, staring down at their hands and Warrick  
  
didn't know whether to loosen or tighten his grip.  
  
He must have unknowingly loosened his grip, because Sara glanced up  
  
at him, eyes uncertain and questioning.  
  
"I trust you, you know that. And I know that you don't lie to me, but  
  
how do I know you won't?"  
  
At any other time, he would have laughed at the absurdity of Sara  
  
Sidle, his friend, best friend, girlfriend, even asking such a  
  
question. But now he knew that he needed to make her realize that  
  
just because some people weren't worth trusting, didn't mean that you  
  
couldn't trust other people.  
  
TBC. 


End file.
